Well screen



April 8, 1944. E. w. BENNISON 7 WELL SCREEN Filed Nov. 28, 1946 2 Sheets-Shet 1 April 18, 1944. E. w. BENNI SON WELL SCREEN Filed Nov. 28, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. '8

LBS/M Inventor:

6 rulsom.

for- 2 mechanism. and

Patented Apr. 18, 1944 I OFFICE:

"2,346,647. I ,WELL SCREEN" Ernest W. V Benn'ison',

Edward Minn.

St. Paul, Minn, assignor to E. Johnson, Incorporated. St. Paul.

Application meats 28, 1940, Serial No. 367,533

My invention relates to well screens and-has for its principal object to provide an eflicient and durable screen with either circumferential or longitudinal drainage slots which can be manufactured at a minimum cost with the employment of low priced labor, and which will give a high degree of satisfaction for use in certain types of Wells.

In the practice of manufacturing well screens it longitudinal supporting members in parallel relation so that theirouter limits outline a cylinder and to wind upon and in contact with said outer limits a wire laid in a progressive helix and spaced apart so that the distances between. successive helical coils provide. drainage slots .to the interior of the resulting structure. The longitudinal rods and the helical wire arecaused to be integrally united by successively heating electrically the wire and rodsat their contacting porin the other predetermined distances. There are certain difiiculties in producing the above type of screen which require somewhat complicated of current for producing exactly the right degree of softening of the contacting parts of rods and helical wire so thatthe sinking together willbe uniform and result in a screen having its outer in a uniform plane. Circum united wherein the circumferential elements were more widely spaced and the longitudinal elements closely spaced to provide screening slots between longitudinal elements. H I It is an object of my invention to unite circumferential and longitudinal elements of a well screen by a processor semi-welding or forging which avoids the difficulties to produce the sinking together of rods and cirhas been customary to hold a series of rods or;

very accurate control of the flow ,40 of eXact heating. and.

cumferential supporting elementsby means which operate positively and certainly and are not dependent upon an exact degree of heat at any time generated by electric welding apparatus.

In carrying out my invention. I, provide longitudinal rods or supporting elements of suificient mass so that when transverse grooves are cut to a depth of to or past the rods, the rods ,Will still be strong. enough when the helically wound-wire is, united therewith to form a rigid unyielding well screenstructure In forming the screen preferably Icut; the

central plane of the grooves across the rodsinjsynchronism with the 55 3 Claims. (01. 16 6 -8) Winding of the helical wire so that the grooves all lie in the path of the helix formed by the winding of the Wire.

' It is a further object of my invention to wind the wire in the form of a helix overlying the grooves cut transversely across simultaneously apply a welding electrode to the and caused to flow and the wire is forced into the groove filling the groove and becoming substantially integral with its side walls.

It is therefore a principalobject of my invention to provide a well screen wherein the longitudinal rods outline a cylinder and have formed therein a series of transverse grooves falling in a predetermined helix with a helically wound wire of normally greater diameter than the Width of said grooves lying in said grooves and being narrowed within the grooves to seat therein and being forged into the sides and upper edges of said grooves.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a well screen the manufacture of which is I efiected in the same manner wherein the helical coils of the helix of wire will be relatively'widely spaced and the longitudinal members will be spaced close together to provide a multiplicity of vertical drainage slots. g

It is a further object of my invention to provide a well screen wherein the longitudinal elements are spaced close together'to form vertical drainage slots, and wherein hoops or loops of metal are employed for binding the screen members together rather than a helix of wire.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a novel means of forging or caulking the crossing portions of longitudinal rods and circumferential supporting members to unite the two substantially integrally together.

It is to be understood that the term rods as I used in this application, means round rods or rods of circular cross-section; and the term wire as used herein means round wire or wire of circular cross-section, as

"united to form'a cylindrical well screen structure 2 obtained are particularly pointed claims.

In the drawings illustrating an application of my invention in one form:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of a well screen made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of such a screen with parts broken away and in section.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a supporting rod after grooves have been cut therein.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the wire which is to be wound in a helix over the transversev grooves of the supporting rods.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic showing of the manner in which the grooves are cut and the wire as laid is subject to the action of a weighted electrode.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing the form of union of wire and rod for forming vertical-slots.

Fig. 7. is a transverse sectional view of awell screen made in accordance with my invention wherein the circumferential elements are the supporting members and the longitudinal elements form the drainage slots.

Fig. 8' is a plan view of out in the the screen shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 illustrates the manner in Whichspaced helical coils provide. support. for the longitudinal elements forming, drainage slots of Figs. 7 and 8.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged scale perspective view of one of the longitudinal rods showing wide spacing for the circumferential elemen Fig..11 is. a view similar to Fig. 5 showing how grooves are cut and wire laid for a modified form of forging or caulking.

Fig. 12 is a part sectional diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the forging or caulking isefiected.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged plan view showing how the. vertical rods have portions forged. down over the supporting wires to hold the circumferential and vertical element united.

In forming my screen a multiplicity of longitudinal supporting rods are held by any suit-' able means (not shown) equally spaced and so that their outer limits fall within the limitsof a cylinder outlined by said outer limits. Each of these rods ll! is adapted to be formed with transverse grooves H, as shown in Fig. 3. The grooves extend in lines about the cylinder of rods which comprise a helix as clearly. indicated in Fig. 2.

Also in Fig. 2, grooves. This wire [2 is normally of greater diameter than the width of the cated at I3 of Fig. 5. Preferably in forming the screen the grooves H are out along a helical line at the same time that the wire l 2-is successively laid in the form ofa helix over said grooves, H. A cutter M of any suitable type driven by means not shown is indicated in Fig. 5. A welding disc l supplied with welding current in a suitable manner and sufiiciently weighted rides upon the wire l2 as it is wound over the grooves l3. At-

each contacting point of the wire and the upper edgesof the grooves a circuit is completed through asection of the wire 12 to the rod!!! in a known manner with the result that the metal ofrod' i2 is heated sufficiently to makethe section-above the groove fluid or semi-fluid and the weight of the weighted electrode Iiiwill thus cause the section of wire I! to be forced down into grooves-H, asindicatedat'lfi in Fig. 5.

There thus will be formed flattened portions notches H in the rods grooves, as indidisc 36 is run successively current is passedtherefrom through 'wires 35 .wire l2-1is laid and. -ll-in the manner indicated diagrammatically in normal. diameter greater than ll of the wire 12 held between the side walls of grooves II and integrated therewith in a manner of welding by the cooling of the contacted fluid metal. This structure results in a completed screen l8, as shown in Fig. 2. In this manner the rods l0 and the helix formed of the wire l2 will be integrated and united together to provide an unusually strong and rigid well screen construction wherein drainage slots l9 are formed between successive pairs of rods 10' and successive helical coils of the wire l2.

As shown in Figs. '7, 9 and 10, the spiral coils indicated at 30 and 3| may be widely spaced and the vertical rods ill may be spaced close together so as to leave openings 32 of the right width to provide drainage slots extending vertically from end to end of the screen. In such a case the ID will be widely spaced, as indicated at 33, but otherwise the construction of the well screen will be the same as in Figs. l to 6. Of course. in this formwhere the helical coils. 3D; and 3| are laid the wide spacing will be effected by relatively rapid advancementof the'rods ID as the wire I2 is laid thereon. In this case the transverse slots will still be cut, wast-he forged'into the transverse slots Fig. 5.

As shown in Fig. 8 the well screen embodying vertical. members, such as rods Ill, spaced close togethento provide narrow vertical drainageslots 32: may be fabricated in which the circumferential elements comprise closed hoops, rings or bands. which lie in the transverse slots- II and hold; the vertical elements in position. In this case the, slots H will be cut in circles about the group of rods and after the slots have been cut the. rings will; be applied to the several. rows of slots to complete thescreen.

Cylindrical fittings 20 and. H areformed with circular rows of holes 22, as shown. in Fig. 2. Theseholes '22 receiveends 23 of the rods II] which have not been. grooved or had applied theretothe helix formedof wirev E2. The rod ends 23 areunited integrally by'weldingor other-means withthebody of the: fitting ZDIand 2.! within the holes22; 1

There thus is formed a completed well-screen whereinra.multiplicityv of longitudinal supporting rods have secured. within transverse grooves across said rods a- -.helical1y wound wire-ofa grooves; said wire beings: everywhereaseatedwithin said grooves. and forged and welded-to the walls thereof; l L v A modified way of performing this: forging 'operation is shown in Figs. 11 to 13." As there illustrated, thecutter l4- may operate-as-in connection with the formation ofthe screen of Figs-'1 6 tol6', but the wire 35 is ofa diameter to fitfully within-the transverse slots H in rods I0. After fully assembled. a welding along'the'rods loz As the 'parts have beenit results in softening and forging over themetal of therods, as indicated at 31, Figs. 12 and 13.

The advantages of my invention-iliave been made to appear in the foregoing specificatiom A primary advantage residesin the fact thatan efflcient, practicalwell screen fcan be: made. very cheaply eitheruwith longitudinal or helical draim age slots and when completed has astrong' union between circumferential and -longitudinal: 'element's which" is e'fiected" by: simple" and p'ractical 'meansandwhereinrtlredepthotsinking together the width of the i of longitudinal and circumferential elements is ferential elements will be sunk within the body of the longitudinal elements.

I claim:

1. A well screen comprising sets of longitudinal and circumferential members, the members ofeach set being circular in cross-section, the members of one set being closely spaced to form drainage slots. the members of the other set being widely spaced to form supports for the closely spaced set, the longitudinal members being provided with sets of aligned transverse parallelwalled grooves, the set of circumferential members having the portions within said grooves narrower than the normal transverse extent thereof and being held to unite the two sets of members into a rigidly interconnected structure by compression contact of side portions of the circumferential members with the sides of said grooves caused by forging the groove contacting portions of the circumferential members upon and against the side walls of said grooves.

2. A well screen comprising a, multiplicity of longitudinally extended rods of circular crosssection whose outer limits outline a cylinder, said rods being positioned close together to form a series of vertical drainage slots, said rods being formed with aligned series of transverse parallel- Walled grooves, spaced coils of wire of circular cross-section positioned in said groove for supporting and holding the longitudinal elements to form a unitary structure, said coils of Wire having the portions thereof within said grooves narrower than the normal diameter of the wire forming the coils, and being held to unite the two sets of elements into a rigidly interconnected structure by compression contact of side of the wires with by forging the groove-contacting portions of the coils of wire upon and against the side walls of said grooves;

3. A well screen comprising a multiplicity of longitudinal supporting rods of circular crosssection whose outer limits outline a cylinder, said rods being spaced substantial distances apart in parallel relation, said rods being formed with aligned series of transverse parallel-walled grooves, the grooves of the several rods falling in a continuous helix of closely spaced coils, a helix of wire of circular cross-section having its coils positioned in said grooves and so held closely spaced to form helical drainage slots, said helix of wire having the portions thereof Within said grooves narrower than the normal diameter of the Wire forming the coils and being held to unite the two sets of elements into a rigidly interconnected structure by compression contact of said side portions of the Wires with the sides of said grooves caused by forging the groove contacting portions of the coil of Wire upon and against the side walls of said grooves.

portions ERNEST W. BENNISON.

the sides of said grooves caused 

